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Thunder Valley victorious, five heading to national championship

November 2nd, 2015

Thunder Valley victorious, five heading to national championship

Thunder Valley Raceway Park grabbed the Team Championship from host track Texas Motorplex at the Sept. 25-27 NHRA Summit Racing Series South Central Division Finals. The team out of Noble, Oklahoma notched the team title by outlasting 8 other NHRA Member Tracks in the division. Thunder Valley led the way with 63 points followed by Texas Motorplex (52) and Paris Dragstrip (50).

Mike Greene, Jesse Mantooth, Joe Delagarza, and Eddie Glazecaptured individual championships and now advance to the NHRA Summit National Championship at Auto Club Raceway and the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Calif. Joining these four will be the No Electronics Race of Champions winner Aaron Jones who will round out the 8-car field in Sportsman. A special drawing was held earlier this year and the South Central division was drawn to fill the eighth spot in the Sportsman class.

Greene of Burleson, Texas, punched his Super Pro ticket to Pomona when he defeated Darrell Reid, Iowa Park, Texas, in the Pro / Super Pro Run-off. Reid, the winner of the Pro category, had a slight advantage off the tree but gave it up at the finish line by breaking out on his dial. Greene pieced together a winning pass of 4.570 seconds at 149.15 mph in the 1/8th mile.

The No Box Quick title went to Mantooth, Norman, Okla., by defeating Shane Diailormo of Sport, La., with a margin of victory of .008 seconds. Mantooth got off the line first in his ’93 Mustang and clocked in at 6.335 seconds at 109.20 mph to best Diailormo’s runner-up lap of 5.337 seconds at 128.43 mph.

Grand Prairie, Texas, racer Delagarza lasted seven rounds and picked up an easy victory in the No Box Sportsman final as Tony Resar, Moore, Okla., went red at the starting line. Like Delagarza, Glaze of Houston, Texas, also got a free pass to Pomona as his opponent Patrick Roetto, Wichita, Kan., fouled at the tree in the Bike/Sled final.

In the Race of Champions action that places the top points earners from each track in head to head competition, Jones, Sherman, Texas, took his ’71 Camaro to the No Electronics winners circle with a lap of 6.586 seconds at 101.88 mph to defeat Jason Patterson, Deer Park, Texas, and his pass of 6.413 seconds at 101.60 mph. Jones will make his way to Pomona in November with the double breakout win.

The Electronics title went to Billy Simpson of Kennedale, Texas, with a margin of victory of approximately seven inches over John Yates, Irving, Texas. Simpson got off the line first and drove his ’67 Chevy II to a 6.203-second, 108.33-mph pass to knock out Yates and his runner up finish of 5.201 seconds at 133.90 mph.

Michael Nash, Texarkana, Texas, jumped off the line first with a nice .007 reaction time in the Sportsman Motorcycle final but that wasn’t enough to take down Dave Gautreaux of River Ridge, La., for the win. Gautreaux rode his ’03 Suzuki to a wining lap of 5.803 seconds at 114.50 mph to defeat Nash’s 5.165 second, 134.90 mph pass.

A High School category was also contested with Tiffani Wallace of Grand Prairie, Texas, driving her ’78 Malibu into the winners circle with a winning lap of 9.926 seconds at 72.21 mph. Matthew Legg, La Porte, Texas, left a bit too early at the tree earning him a runner-up finish.